Did journalism sink your 401k? And more surprising insights from the social sciences
Boston Globe:
Learning to love the rules
We all chafe against the rules sometimes, but new research suggests that restrictions are a lot easier to accept than the possibility of restrictions. In one experiment, people read about the prospect of lower speed limits that were either certain to happen or likely to happen. If the lower limits were certain, people had a more positive attitude about them, whereas if the lower limits were likely but not certain, people were more negative. In another experiment, people read about the prospect of a ban on cellphone use while driving. Again, a certain ban induced people to go along with the ban and have more negative attitudes about cellphone use while driving, but any amount of doubt about enacting the ban induced more positive attitudes towards cellphone use while driving. In both cases, there were no reactions either way among people to whom the rule was not directly relevant.
Read the whole story: The Boston Globe
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